Unforgiven
by SupernaturalGeek
Summary: The boys struggle with a difficult hunt and their current situation. Set between 'Red Sky At Morning' and 'Fresh Blood'.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N this is set between the end of Red Sky At Morning and the beginning of Fresh Blood. Just in case anyone was wondering… ___

"You wanna stop at the next town for something to eat?"

Dean glanced at Sam as he spoke, taking in the hunched shoulders and the determined way his brother's gaze was glued to the scenery passing by outside the window. There was no indication Sam had heard him so he tried again.

"Hey, Sam – I said do you wanna stop for food soon?"

Still nothing.

"Oh for god sake." muttered Dean under his breath.

Reaching out he whacked Sam none too lightly on the shoulder, which not only got his attention this time but also earned Dean a glare.

"What?"

Dean shook his head.

"Exactly how long are you planning on sulking for? Just so I can plan the rest of my day."

The glare darkened before Sam turned back to the apparently fascinating view.

"I am not sulking."

"Oh, sure you're not, Sammy. That's why you look like someone took away your favourite toy."

Sam turned back to look at him.

"Great analogy, Dean. I'm upset that you won't actually give a crap you're gonna die and you compare it to me loosing a favourite toy. Got any more pearls of wisdom you wanna get out there, Yoda?"

Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, before you start having a hissy fit it's not my fault you tend to regress when you're in a bad mood. And secondly? We are not having this conversation again, Sam! I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of banging my head against a brick wall."

"We wouldn't be banging our heads against a brick wall if you'd actually start taking this seriously."

Now it was Dean's turn to glare.

"You think I'm not taking this seriously? I'm going to hell in less than twelve months, it's kinda hard to forget about something like that! What's not helping is you bringing it up every damn second of the day – what's done is done and keep having the same argument over and over is not gonna change that!"

"I'm not asking you to have the same argument over and over, I'm asking you to let me try and save you! You might not care if you die, but I do!"

Dean brought one hand up to rub his temples, feeling a headache building. It wasn't that he didn't understand Sam's desperate need to try and save him but the truth was he knew it was unlikely there really was any way out of this deal.

Demons weren't known for putting in little things like escape clauses.

It was hard enough knowing what was gonna happen, however much he didn't regret bringing Sam back, and fighting with his brother about it wasn't really what he wanted to spend his last few months doing. Taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm things down he tried a more reasonable approach.

"I understand why you're pissed, Sam, and I get it ok? Like I said, I'd probably be doing the same thing in your place. But do you really wanna keep doing this? Cos if there is no way out of this then I personally don't want to have spent our last few months yelling at each other."

Sam swallowed.

"It's not gonna be your last few months."

The words were spoken so quietly Dean had to strain to hear them but the tone was pure Winchester stubbornness. A sudden image flashed into his head of a seven year old Sam, standing in front of him with his arms folded and a determined look on his face. He couldn't even remember what that particular fight had been about but the expression his brother was wearing at that moment hadn't changed a bit. Biting his lip, since grinning right now probably wasn't going to improve Sam's mood any, he decided it might be easier to just concede the point on this one and try to change the subject.

"Fine. Either way can we just not fight? Please?"

Sam shifted in his seat. Part of him wanted to stay mad, to force Dean to actually confront this whole thing and start fighting with him instead of against him. But the other part of him could hear the plea in his brother's words and could see how much this whole thing was wearing him down. And truth was, he hated arguing as much as Dean did.

"Fine."

It was hardly a resounding endorsement but right now Dean would take what he could get.

"So. Food?" he said and Sam shrugged.

"Sure."

Dean bit back a sigh and started looking for the exit sign. Not arguing was a good thing but he wasn't entirely sure one word answers were that much of an improvement.

For once the town they stopped in had a fairly decent Diner and Dean could feel his mouth watering at the delicious smells coming from the kitchen while they waited. He glanced across at Sam and, realising he was being watched, Sam looked up and managed a brief smile. Dean leant back in the seat and looked around, taking in the other people who were sitting eating their food and making small talk. He envied them suddenly, knowing that for most of them their lives would be untouched by the kind of dilemmas he and Sam faced every day. Why couldn't they be the ones sitting there with nothing more important to worry about than a boss they didn't like or whether the Cowboys were gonna win the Superbowl? Why did their lives have to be such a struggle? Even getting revenge on the demon that killed their Mom and Jess hadn't been allowed to be a moment of happiness. Instead it had been overshadowed, by Sam's death and by what Dean had had to do to fix that.

"Hey."

The word, quietly spoken, registered at the same time as the gentle nudge from Sam's knee under the table. Dean looked up to see Sam watching him with a concerned gaze.

"You ok?"

He managed a slight smile, feeling some of the black mood lift simply from the fact Sam had not only noticed something was bothering him – and so fast – but also by the genuine concern in his brother's voice.

"Yeah. Just thinking." he said and Sam shook his head.

"I thought we agreed that never ends well?" he said dryly.

"Bite me." Dean retorted but he found himself grinning. It was amazing sometimes just how easily things seemed to slide back into their normal rhythm.

Well, normal for them anyway.

Further conversation was put aside as their food arrived and Sam found he was actually quite hungry now he thought about it. He kept a subtle eye on Dean as they ate, relieved to see that whatever had been bothering him had apparently been put aside reasonably easily. Of course where his brother was concerned that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't bothering him anymore, just that he was trying not to think about it or trying not to let it show. Either way there wasn't much Sam could do about it right now, so he simply vowed to watch out for it happening again.

Seeing Dean was practically finished and already eyeing the desert menu, Sam quickly swallowed the piece of food he'd been chewing.

"So were you actually serious about Atlantic City?" he said and Dean looked up at him.

"I dunno. Tempting as it is, we probably should be a little more practical about it. It's not like we come across that kind of cash every day."

Sam snorted. "Not unless we keep encountering Bela, which is definitely something I could live without."

"You and me both. I still think you should have let me shoot her."

Sam grinned.

"Like I said, it was too public. Anyway, I agree we should keep hold of the cash. It saves having to keep using the cards which isn't a bad thing, given our situation."

Dean couldn't really argue that point. They both knew their names were still plastered all over the Most Wanted list and after their little escape from jail Agent Hendrickson was probably even more determined to catch up with them than he had been before.

Sometimes he wondered if it wouldn't just be easier to change their names and head for Hawaai.

"Ok, so we're both agreed no trip to the Casino just yet." he said, aloud. "We should probably divide it up though, make sure it's not all in one place. Last thing we need is to end up losing the lot like we did before."

Sam grimaced. The issue of the lottery tickets Bela had stolen before was still a sore point and her recent trick of getting the Impala towed had only rubbed salt in the wound.

There were certain drawbacks sometimes to carrying your entire life around with you.

"Sounds good to me. Since we're not heading that way then, where did you want to go instead?" he asked and Dean shrugged, slightly distracted as he tried to get the waitress's attention with a killer smile. She came over, blushing slightly and tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Can I get you boys something else?"

Before Dean could answer Sam quickly stepped in.

"Yeah, could we have two pieces of pie please. And some more coffee."

"Sure." she said, still glancing at Dean as she refilled their mugs. With a final shy smile she went back to the counter to place their order and Dean raised his eyebrows at Sam, who looked innocent.

"What?"

"I coulda done that." he said and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but it would have meant I had to listen to you putting on the moves to get her number along with the pie, and I didn't really feel like seeing my dinner for a second time."

"Spoilsport. You could always take notes, get a few tips."

"Whatever. We were deciding where to go next, remember?" he said, before Dean could really get going.

"I could give Bobby a call, see if he's heard anything lately."

Sam nodded. "Might as well. You gonna tell him we met Bela again?"

"No. He's probably supposed to watch his blood pressure at his age."

Sam grinned. "I wouldn't let him hear you say that, unless you wanna be picking buckshot outta your ass for the next month."

Dean smirked, digging his cell phone out of his pocket as he slid out of the booth. Stepping outside he leant against the wall of the Diner as he dialled Bobby's number, able to still keep an eye on Sam from where he was standing.

It paid to be careful these days.

By the time he was done the pie had arrived and he looked pleased as he sat down, noting that his portion was slightly bigger than Sam's. Maybe he'd be getting that number after all.

"So did he have anything?" asked Sam as Dean dug into the pie.

Putting a large forkful in his mouth Dean shook his head, waiting till he'd finished chewing before answering. He'd had enough lectures from Sam about talking with his mouth full.

"Not off the top of his head but he's gonna check it out for us, see if there's anything nearby."

Sam nodded. "So what do you wanna do in the meantime?"

Before Dean could answer, his phone rang. Picking it up he glanced at the caller id and relaxed.

"Bobby." he said, in answer to Sam's questioning look, flipping the phone open.

Sam carried on eating as Dean listened to what the older hunter had to say.

"So how far is that from here?" he said after a minute, waving a hand in Sam's direction.

Putting down his fork Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen, pushing it across the table along with a napkin.

Dean picked them up and scribbled something down, nodding even though Bobby couldn't see him.

"Right, ok. We'll check it out. Shouldn't take us more than an hour to get there so we'll book in somewhere and start digging around tomorrow. Yeah, we will. Uh, no nothing much. Little thing with a dead man's hand but we took care of it, no big deal."

Sam choked on his pie, coughing and spluttering at Dean's blatant understatement, and his brother kicked him under the table.

"What? No, that's just Sam. Seems he still hasn't mastered the art of eating yet."

Glaring as Sam kicked him back for that one, Dean wrapped up the call before Bobby could ask anymore questions.

"Ok, we'll call and let you know how we get on. Yeah, I know. We will. Seriously, we will. Ok, talk to you later."

As he hung up Dean reached down and rubbed his leg.

"What the hell was that for?"

"How about cos you kicked me first?" said Sam and Dean shook his head.

"What are you, six? You're just lucky Bobby didn't pick up on that little coughing fit of yours."

"Hey, he couldn't see me and anyway you were the one who caught me off guard with the whole 'no big deal' thing."

"You'd have preferred it if I told him what really happened? I didn't know you liked getting called an idiot quite so much, Sam. I can call him back if you like, I'm sure he could manage a good few hours of lecturing before the morning."

Sam winced. Bobby tended to be even more vocal than John when he thought they'd got in over their heads or done something stupid. His ears were still ringing from the last time.

"No, I think we can pass on that. What did he have for us anyway?" he said, changing the subject, and Dean wolfed down the rest of his dessert before he answered.

"Could be nothing but there's been a spate of drownings about 100 miles from here. Mostly hikers out using the forest trails, but it seems concentrated on one stretch of river. Cops haven't flagged it as more than a series of accidents but Bobby says it seems to follow a pattern going back about twenty years or so. He's gonna email us the info and carry on looking from his end – we might as well take a look as we're so close."

Sam sighed.

"What is it with us and drownings lately?" he said and Dean grimaced.

"No idea. What I wanna know is why all these people have to get themselves killed in the middle of freaking nowhere. What's the fascination with dragging your ass through the forest anyway? It's trees. Seriously, just how excited can you get about a bunch of trees? Damn hikers." he muttered, scowling as he drank the last of his coffee.

Sam covered his smirk by taking a sip from his own mug, knowing that baiting Dean about his dislike of the great outdoors wouldn't be the smartest move. Especially since he was the one who was gonna have to put up with the bitching when they got there anyway.

"Some people like nature." was all he said and Dean shook his head.

"Yeah, and some people deserve to get themselves ripped to shreds."

"I thought you said they were drowning?"

"Whatever. You know what I mean. Anyway, come on – we should get moving unless you want to sleep in the car tonight."

Sam slid out of the booth, waiting by the door as Dean went and paid their bill. He rolled his eyes as he watched his brother spend an extra few minutes flirting with their waitress, coughing loudly in the end to get Dean's attention. Dean shot him an irritated look but wrapped up his conversation and made his way back over to Sam.

"You should really get that cough seen to, Sammy." he said as he walked through the door Sam was holding open.

Sam had long since given up on correcting him on that one so he settled for light shove as they walked over to the Impala, quickly moving out of range before Dean could retaliate.

"You were the one who said we should get a move on."

Narrowing his gaze Dean noted the move for retribution later and unlocked the car.

"Just get in."

As they pulled out of the parking lot Sam opened John's journal and started skimming through for lore on drowning. He winced when 'Unforgiven' started blaring out of the speakers a few minutes later but, aside from a quick glare, he didn't push it.

They still had an hour to go stuck in the car after all.

As Dean started singing along with James Hetfield, Sam turned his attention back to the journal. Given their last few cases, not to mention Bela's recent escapades, he found himself hoping that maybe it was just a series of unfortunate accidents they were about to investigate.

Which of course was probably about as likely as them hitting the jackpot in Atlantic City. He sighed to himself.

He just hoped they didn't end up wishing they'd gone with Dean's first idea after all.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time they'd reached the town closest to where the deaths had been occurring it was too late to do anything more than check into a Motel and call it a night. When Dean woke it was to the smell of fresh coffee. Turning over he saw Sam sitting on his bed, engrossed in whatever he was reading on the laptop. Seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye Sam glanced across.

"Morning. Coffee's there, should still be hot." he said, indicating the steaming mug sitting on the cabinet next to Dean's bed.

Dean mumbled something which Sam took to mean 'thanks' and sat up, rubbing his eyes as he reached for the mug.

"What time is it?" he asked after a minute, squinting as he picked up his watch and tried to make out the numbers.

"6.45"

The squint turned to a glare, aimed in Sam's direction.

"I swear one day you're gonna have us getting up before we actually go to bed." he muttered, pushing back the covers and making his way blearily to the bathroom.

Sam just smirked, more than used to Dean's mood first thing in the morning.

By the time his brother came out, looking slightly more awake, Sam had a whole page of stuff written down in the notebook in front of him. He looked up.

"Better?" he asked innocently.

"No, but since we're up at this god forsaken hour I hope you've at least managed to find something useful?" Dean said as he sat down on the end of his bed to put on his boots.

Sam nodded.

"Maybe. I got the email from Bobby and he's right about the pattern. First death was 22 years ago; teenage boy found two days after his father reported him missing. Year after that it was forest worker, out clearing trees in the same area. It's followed the same pattern every year since then, not always just the one death but always occurring around the same month."

"Let me guess – this is the month?" said Dean dryly and Sam nodded again.

"Yep. Two deaths already, happened last week."

Dean frowned.

"The cops never picked up on the pattern?"

Sam shrugged.

"I guess not. They're all down as straightforward drownings and since it's only a few people they probably never even noted it as suspicious. There's one weird thing though, all the autopsy reports Bobby managed to get hold of specifically mention the expression on the victim's faces."

"What about it?"

"Well, they all had their features frozen in this look of terror. Like something terrible happened right at the moment they died. The coroner couldn't find any cause for it so it was just logged as a form of rigor mortis caused by the cold water or something."

Dean snorted.

"Yeah, right. That'll be it. Looks like it's definitely our kinda thing then." he said.

"Looks like. Bobby couldn't get hold of all the newspaper reports so I reckon we should take a look at the missing ones first. He's gonna check through his books for us and dig out all the lore on drownings and water spirits." Sam replied.

Dean finished lacing his boots and stood up.

"Why don't I drop you at the library and I'll go check out the site, see if there's any EMF activity or anything else blatantly obvious."

The way Sam's shoulders tensed clued Dean in on the answer to that one, even before Sam spoke.

"Or we could both go look this stuff up and then check out the site together." he said, keeping his tone deceptively even.

Dean sighed. Given the slightly uneasy truce they currently had going he really wasn't going to risk kicking off another round of fighting.

"Fine, if that's the way you want to do it. Just thought it would be quicker my way, that's all."

"Quicker isn't always better. It's safer my way."

"You're right. It's definitely a good idea I'm there to protect you from those scary librarians. You know how they can get if you breathe too loudly." came the deadpan response.

Sam gave him an unamused look.

"Hilarious, Dean. You know what I'm talking about."

"Most of the time, no. Anyway you want to waste the rest of the day standing here debating this or do you wanna actually get on with it?" he said and Sam pointedly closed the laptop, getting up and taking it over to put in one of the bags.

They packed up in silence but Sam supposed he should just be grateful Dean had agreed not to go looking around where the deaths had occurred on is own.

Sometimes it was the small victories that mattered.

It only took twenty minutes to drive into the centre of town and Dean parked the Impala in the square, virtually opposite the library. They had to wait a little while, since the library didn't open until 8am, however two hours later Dean was about ready to stab himself in the eye with a pencil, just for something to do, and Sam was about ready to hand it to him.

His brother really was the most irritating person in the world when he was bored.

Quickly copying the final missing newspaper report Sam gathered up the rest of their stuff and practically frogmarched Dean out of there, feeling the disapproving glare of the librarian following them all the way to the door. Once outside he strode towards the car, giving Dean an annoyed look.

"Do you always have to be such a pain in the ass when we're researching? It's like living with someone who has the attention span of a two year old." he said and Dean held his hands out innocently.

"Hey, I'll have you know I was totally restrained in there. It's not my fault you actually find those places interesting - some of us have better things to be doing."

"Like tearing off without all the facts and getting yourself killed you mean?"

Having reached the car Dean stopped and gave Sam an exasperated look over the roof.

"I'm still here in case you haven't noticed, Einstein. So my way can't be that bad."

Sam looked back at him, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Do you really wanna go there, Dean? Cos I can give you an entire list of times I've had to bail you out cos you wouldn't wait for five minutes and thought you knew better."

Dean gritted his teeth. He really was starting to get tired of having this conversation, even more so since the deal had been made. It was starting to feel like Groundhog Day.

"Alright, this whole conversation is pointless since I already agreed that we're gonna go check out the river together. So let's just drop it, ok?"

It was more of a statement than a question but Sam answered anyway.

"Fine."

"Fine."

They both opened their doors, getting in and managing to shut them at exactly the same time. They looked at each other and Dean felt his lips twitch as he tried, and failed, not to grin. Sam grinned as well, looking slightly sheepish. He cleared his throat, feeling the atmosphere lighten.

"So, uh, there was actually something else I was gonna mention. The spot where these people have died is kinda far into the forest." he began.

"Naturally." said Dean, interrupting, a disgusted look on his face.

"So my _point_ was," Sam continued "It's gonna be a pain if we have to make our back and forth from town or from the nearest motel. I did find something that might work though – there's a log cabin, about a mile from the place, gets hired out to tourists. I emailed the company that lets it this morning and they got back to me while we were in the library, said we could rent it for the week. It would make things a hell of a lot easier, and we wouldn't have to worry about being seen so much."

"Sounds expensive."

"Not really. It's out of season so they said we could have it for half price. I gave them some story about a previous booking falling through, hence the last minute thing, and they must have bought it. I told them we were students doing an environmental studies course and we needed to be out here for research."

Dean looked approving at that part but still wasn't entirely convinced.

"I dunno, it's probably still gonna cost a fortune." he said, reluctantly.

"We've got Bela's money. Besides, it's this or camping. Would you prefer that?"

Dean shuddered.

"Are you kidding? Last time I nearly got eaten by that damn Wendigo. Fine, we'll go with the cabin. Least there'll be hot water."

Sam gave him the directions for the Letting agency, which was on the other side of town, and Dean let him do all the talking when they got there since it was his idea. It was surprisingly easy to get the keys, especially since they paid cash, and less than an hour later they were driving down a single track road towards their new home for the week.

Sam glanced at Dean as his brother swore under his breath – again – at the state of the track.

"It's not that much further." he said and Dean shot him a disbelieving look but didn't bother answering.

Much to the relief of both of them a short while later the cabin came into view. It was small, and not exactly in the best condition, but it was clean and more importantly close to where they needed to be. It would do.

They'd stayed in much worse places.

Sam carried the bags in while Dean parked the Impala out of sight in a clearing behind the building. Satisfied that she'd be safe enough, Dean walked back round and joined Sam inside. He looked round the lounge/kitchen and noted that there appeared to be only one way into the place, which was through the door behind him. Sam appeared just then from the room on the left.

"This is the bedroom and that's the bathroom." he said, pointing at the other door.

"Nice. Not exactly the Ritz, is it?" said Dean and Sam shrugged.

"People come up here for the hiking, not for the accommodation. It'll do for what we need it for."

"Yeah, I guess. Better than the last couple of places anyway." said Dean and Sam had to agree.

They'd actually been keeping a lower profile lately, given the fact they now had demons after them as well as the law, so the last few places they'd stayed had been abandoned buildings rather than motels. At least here they had proper beds and running water.

"So have you got the co-ordinates for where this stuff's been happening?" said Dean, getting down to business, and Sam nodded.

"Yeah. If we head for the river I think we should be able to follow it all the way along to where we're going. It looked like there's a trail, on the map anyway. Hopefully this time of year no one else will be out here."

"No one else is probably that stupid." muttered Dean as he walked past Sam into the bedroom to get their weapons from the bags.

Since they weren't sure yet what they were dealing with he picked out just the handguns, along with some salt and the flasks of holy water. Hopefully that would do in a push if they actually came across anything. Coming back out he handed Sam his stuff, tucked the gun in the waistband of his jeans, and headed for the door.

"Lets get this over with." he said and Sam couldn't help grinning. Sometimes it really was amusing watching Dean bond with nature.

Almost forty five minutes later some of Sam's amusement had waned as he had to put up with a constant stream of muttered complaints behind him, not to mention 'are we nearly there yet?' every five minutes.

He was seriously considering just leaving Dean out there.

"Sam, are we.."

Dean didn't get to finish the sentence as Sam stopped dead and turned round to face him, holding up a warning finger.

"I swear if you ask if we're nearly there yet, Dean, I'm gonna drown you myself."

Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Well someone's getting a little tetchy. What the hell's got your panties all bunched up, Princess?"

"You! You've asked me if we're nearly there yet a dozen times and I told you, we've still got a way to go. It's driving me nuts!"

"Hey, just think of it as payback for all those times I had to put up with you doing that for hours. I'm surprised Dad didn't leave you by the side of the road."

Sam glared.

"I did not used to do that."

"Did to."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"Dean!"

Dean smirked at him.

"What?"

Sam gritted his teeth and turned round to start walking again. Dean chuckled to himself. All these years and sometimes, it was still too easy.

Despite the fact it was brightening an otherwise dull morning, Dean did manage to keep quiet after that since Sam was armed after all. As it was, it only took another ten minutes before Sam stopped again, looking round and checking the map he was holding. Seemingly satisfied, he turned round to face Dean.

"This is it."

Dean looked round as well, not seeing anything other than trees and yet more trees. He walked over to the edge of the river, glancing down at the fast flowing water. He was aware of Sam coming to stand beside him and turned his head to look at him.

"See anything out of the ordinary?"

Sam shook his head.

"No, nothing. You?"

"No. You bring the EMF meter?"

Sam took it out of his pocket and handed it to Dean, who switched it on. He walked round slowly, following the river for a short distance in one direction, and then doing the same in the other. Sam was crouched down examining the riverbank and he looked up as Dean walked back towards him.

"Anything?" he said, hopefully, and Dean sighed.

"Not so much as a twitch. Whatever's doing this, it's not a spirit."

Sam stood up, brushing the dirt of his hands.

"Well that's one we can tick off the list at least." he said and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Great, only another million or so things to go."

"I'll check with Bobby, see if he's come up with anything." said Sam placatingly, but as he took his cell phone out of his pocket he frowned.

"Huh."

"What?" said Dean, turning round.

"No signal. We must be in a blackspot."

Dean took his own out and saw it was exactly the same. He shrugged.

"Either that or something's blocking it."

Sam automatically looked round.

"Great. Thanks, I felt so much better when I thinking it was just crappy satellite coverage."

"Yeah, well, you know as well as I do it's just as likely to be whatever it is we're looking for. We'd better stay close since they're not working though."

Sam shook his head but didn't comment on the role reversal of Dean now wanting them to stick together.

They searched the entire area thoroughly for the next hour, staying in sight of one another, but there was no sign of anything other than what you'd expect to find in a forest. Dean caught his head on yet another branch as he was walking back towards Sam and he cursed, picking twigs and god knows what else out of his hair.

Sam was trying not to grin as he watched and Dean gave him a look that clearly said what would happen if his brother even thought about making some smart ass comment. Wisely, Sam restrained himself.

"So this is getting us nowhere." he said.

"Tell me about it. Just once it would be nice if what we were hunting could leave a big frigging clue for us."

Sam looked amused.

"What, you mean like a big arrow saying 'scary monster, this way'?"

Dean nodded.

"Yeah, why not? It's not too much to ask is it?"

Sam just grinned.

"We might as well head back to the cabin and go over the newspaper reports again. There's gotta be something we're missing. Otherwise we're gonna have to go back into town and see if we can talk to some people."

"Only if we walk. No way I'm driving down that damn track again till we leave for good." Dean warned.

As they turned to head back along the trail Sam thought he heard something. He stopped and turned round, looking down at the water with a frown on his face. He listened intently, hearing the sound of birds a little further away and the gurgling of the river rushing past.

"Sam?"

Dean had realised his brother wasn't behind him and had stopped, looking back and seeing Sam watching the river as if he'd seen something. Sam looked up.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

He gave the water one last glance before taking a couple of long strides to catch Dean up.

"What was it?" Dean said as he joined him and Sam looked hesitant.

"I'm not sure. I thought I heard a noise, like something landing in the water. I couldn't see anything though. Might just have been a fish or something."

As they started walking again Sam glanced back one more time, unable to shake the feeling of being watched. If he'd been a little closer he might have seen a pair of bright eyes just visible underneath the water. They glowed briefly and then disappeared.

They'd be back. Until then it would wait.

It was good at waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

"That's weird."

Dean looked up from the coroner's report he was studying, for the third time.

"What's weird?" he said, getting up and walking over to where Sam had an old map spread out across the table. 

"Look. This map is from thirty years ago and see here, behind where we were looking – there's something there." 

Dean leaned over Sam's shoulder and squinted where his brother was pointing. The map wasn't great, since it was a copy, but Sam was right. He could just about make out a square shape in the middle of the shaded area leading back from the river.

"Ok, I see something. Not sure I see what's weird about it though." 

Sam opened out another, newer, map and laid it over the first one.

"This is the map we bought this morning. See? There's nothing there now." 

"Could just be an old building that they pulled down. We don't even know if it was there when these deaths started, that other map is pretty old." Dean pointed out. 

"Yeah, but we might as well check it out don't you think? It's not like we've come across anything else." 

Dean had to admit Sam was right. They'd been going over everything they had for the last two hours and all Dean had got out of it so far was a headache. Not even Bobby had managed to send them anything useful yet.

"Alright, we'll go take a look."

Sam stood up and grabbed his coat from the back of the chair. As Dean put his on, he shook his head.

"This means more trees, doesn't it?" he said and Sam grinned but kept his mouth shut. There was no telling how long they were gonna be stuck on this one and he didn't particularly want Dean in too much of a bad mood already.

A short while later, as they headed past where they'd been a few hours earlier, Sam paused to look at the river. He was still sure there'd been something in the water last time. 

"You hear something again?" said Dean, seeing him stop, and Sam shrugged uneasily.

"No, I just can't shake the feeling there was something there before." he said and Dean raised an eyebrow.

"A regular feeling or a spidey-sense feeling?" he said, only half teasing, and Sam shook his head.

"I dunno."

Dean joined him at the water's edge, looking down. They stood there for a few minutes but there was nothing to see and the only sounds were the occasional bird song and the noise of the water rushing past. 

Sam sighed.

"Come on. There's obviously nothing here now."

Dean took one last look around before turning and following Sam as he headed deeper into the forest. 

There wasn't much talking for a while, as the path they were taking was overgrown and getting through all the foliage was proving not such an easy task. As a thin branch Sam had just struggled past flew back, almost catching Dean in the face, he stopped. 

"Hey, Indiana Jones – you wanna watch what you're doing there?" he said and Sam turned round.

"What?" he said, frowning, and Dean looked indignant.

"Oh, nothing, just everything you manage to get past is smacking me in the face back here. If I'd known it was gonna be like this I'd have brought a damn axe." 

Sam looked a little guilty.

"Sorry, I didn't realise."

Seeing the genuine apology Dean waved his hand.

"Forget it. Seriously, though, if this gets much worse we're never gonna get through it without a machete." 

"We should be nearly there, according to the old map anyway." said Sam and Dean grudgingly indicated for him to lead on, which he did but more carefully this time. 

Dean was so busy watching his footing and looking out for flying branches that he almost missed Sam coming to a sudden stop. As it was he noticed at the last minute and pulled up short, narrowly avoiding walking straight into his brother's back.

"Dude, a little warning?" he said and Sam turned to face him, moving so Dean could get alongside him.

"Sorry, it's just look – I think we found what used to be on the map before."

Stepping up Dean saw what had taken Sam by surprise. 

Just visible through the tangled branches and leaves that covered the entire area was a small wooden house. The glass in the two front windows was cracked and broken, plants growing through from both inside and outside, and the door was hanging on just one hinge. The whole place looked like it hadn't been touched in decades. 

"Well I can see why they left it off the new map. Not exactly a tourist attraction, is it?" said Dean, starting to push his way towards it. 

"It must have belonged to someone." said Sam, following him, and Dean grimaced.

"Someone who clearly doesn't live here anymore. Not unless they're really relaxed about their housekeeping." 

Having managed to reach the house Dean held up a warning hand and pointed to the broken boards on the steps leading up to the front porch. Sam nodded to show that he'd seen them and they both made their way cautiously up to the door. By silent agreement they made as little noise as possible, knowing that just because the place looked deserted didn't mean there was no one – or no 'thing' – hiding inside. 

As they reached the broken door Dean slipped the gun out from his waistband, holding it low in his right hand. It never hurt to be cautious. Glancing to make sure Sam had done the same he pushed the hanging door to one side and ducked under it to get past. 

Although it was dark inside there were so many broken panels and gaps in the roof that there was enough dim light to see by. Using the hand signals John had taught them, Dean told Sam to check out the rooms at the front while he made his way towards the back of the house. He listened intently, alert for any noise, but all he could hear was the creak of the floorboards under his own feet and the almost imperceptible sounds of Sam moving about in the other rooms. 

The first room he came to was obviously the kitchen, although it had been a long time since anyone had sat down to dinner there. The sink was full of brown sludge, the taps were rusted, and every surface was covered in cobwebs and dust. Moving stealthily into the next room he saw it was what passed for a bathroom, and if anything in a worse state than the kitchen. A quick glance through the window showed the back of the house was as overgrown as the front with not even a hint of a garden, if there'd ever been one. 

Passing back through the kitchen he pushed open another door, which creaked alarmingly as he did so, and saw the room was completely empty. He stepped back out just as Sam made his way to join him.

"Well?" he whispered and Sam shook his head.

"Nothing. There's what was probably a lounge on the left and the other room was a bedroom. No sign of anything unusual in either of them." 

Dean sighed. Another dead end.

Motioning to Sam that they were leaving he led the way back out the front door, being careful again not to put his foot through any of the rotten boards. Back on solid ground he tucked the gun back in his jeans and ran a hand through his hair frustratedly.

"So that was another waste of time." he said and Sam frowned.

"Maybe not. Seems like a hell of a coincidence, don't you think, that this place is hidden out here right near where people have been drowning?"

"Yeah, but no one's been in here for decades, Sam. Looks to me like it was just abandoned."

"But why?" said Sam, persistently, and Dean shrugged.

"How do I know? Maybe because it's in the back end of nowhere and they felt like joining civilisation? It probably doesn't even have running water." 

Sam wasn't convinced. "I'm gonna look into it some more. There must be a record of whoever owned it, or at least the land." 

"Fine, be my guest. But while you're doing that I'm gonna be getting something to eat. I'm starving."

Sam rolled his eyes. He was surprised it had taken this long really, given they'd skipped breakfast. 

By the time they reached the river again they were both covered in dirt and leaves, not to mention scratches. 

"Next time Bobby has a bright idea for a case, remind me to put the phone down." Dean grumbled, shaking stuff out of his hair and picking twigs out of his collar.

Sam smirked but before he could say anything they both heard a loud splash. They froze, Dean glancing at Sam before edging his way slowly towards the river bank. He peered into the water, extending his gaze left and right as he searched for the source of the noise. He was aware of Sam beside him, doing the same. 

"Anything?" he murmured and Sam shook his head. 

Bending down Dean leaned forward a little, putting his right hand on the ground to balance himself. He thought he saw a faint glow and was about to mention it to Sam when there was a surge of water and something reached out from beneath the surface. It was too fast for him even to react and he felt himself yanked forward. He heard Sam yell his name, then the cold water hit him and as he went under all noise became muffled. 

He kicked his feet, trying to feel for the river bed, but it was too deep. Blinded by the water in his eyes he reached out, feeling his hands connect with something cold and leathery. The grip on his shoulder was like iron and try as he might he couldn't get whatever the hell it was to let go. His lungs were seriously beginning to burn and he struggled not to panic. 

He really hated being underwater. 

Even though all he could hear was the roar of river and the pounding of his own heartbeat, he was sure he could make out Sam yelling his name. He made a mental note to point out to his brother that it was a somewhat attention grabbing habit. 

Assuming he managed to get out of this. 

Suddenly something grabbed his other arm and he pushed against it until he realised it was actually trying to pull him upwards. 

Latching on he felt fabric and guessed Sam had decided to join his little impromptu diving session. Despite the help though, whatever had him was nothing if not determined and they weren't letting go.

He was aware another few seconds and he was gonna be unconscious. 

Sam's heart had almost stopped when Dean had suddenly been pulled into the water and for a second he'd only been able to stare horrified as the water closed over his brother's head like nothing had ever been there. He'd yelled Dean's name, frantically searching for a glimpse of him, and when there'd been none he'd simply pulled off his jacket and dived in. He'd ignored the breathtaking coldness of the water, his entire focus on finding his brother. Diving under the water he'd seen a dark shape ahead of him and as he'd got closer he'd been able to make out Dean struggling with whatever was holding him under. Reaching out he'd managed to grab hold of Dean's arm and although at first he'd tried to pull away it had only taken seconds for him to realise it was Sam and stop. 

Sam had surfaced, gulping in air and trying not to think about how long Dean had been under already. He'd pulled with all his strength but Dean had remained under the surface. Sam took a deep breath and ducked under again. 

All he could see was a shape below them, one long arm reaching up and gripping Dean's arm with what Sam thought looked like a claw. He pushed himself round to the other side of Dean, concentrating his efforts on getting the thing to let go. Dean was hitting it with his free hand but it didn't seem to be having much effect and even with the murkiness of the water Sam could see the blows were getting weaker. He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't see the thing turn its attention to him until he felt a blow to his stomach that literally forced all the air out of his body. He gasped out of reflex which unfortunately meant he took in a lungful of water. Coughing and spluttering he broke the surface, sheer desperation making him go straight back under before he even really had a chance to get an air back into his lungs. 

Dean had felt the creature lash out and sensed Sam disappear suddenly. He reached out even more determinedly, managing to get hold of what he thought might be a neck of sorts this time. He squeezed, as hard as possible given the fact he was about to black out, but the water made everything slippery and his fingers were nearly numb so he couldn't get a proper grip. What he'd managed to get hold of was wrenched from his grasp and the next thing he knew he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder as the creature seemed to bite him. He gritted his teeth, cursing to himself as he realised he now only had one arm that was working properly. 

Blackness was starting to creep into the edges of his vision. 

_I could use a little help here, Sammy_ he thought desperately and, as if summoned, he felt Sam's hand on his arm again. He turned his head, blinking rapidly as he tried to make out his brother beside him, but everything was blurry. He felt Sam move and then suddenly the grip on his arm was gone and he was being pulled upwards. 

He gasped as his head broke the surface, gulping in air greedily and feeling a rush of dizziness as his brain was overloaded with oxygen again. He would have slipped back under but Sam had hold of him, pulling him back against him and keeping a tight grip.

"Hang on, I've got you." he said and for once Dean did as he was told, letting Sam do all the work as he kicked them back to the riverbank. 

"Can you hold on?" he said when they reached it and Dean nodded, managing to grip onto an overhanging branch with his good arm. 

Sam hauled himself up, sliding on the mud, and as soon as he was fully out he turned round and reached down.

"Take my hand." he said and Dean let go of the branch, trusting Sam to hold onto him and not let him go back under. 

With supreme effort Sam managed to pull Dean up onto the bank, literally taking his whole weight since Dean was too exhausted to do any more than try to stay awake. They both collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily, and Dean rolled over onto his back with a groan. 

"Son of a bitch!" he cursed, bringing his hand up to his shoulder which was beginning to burn now he was out of the freezing cold water.

"Here, let me look." said Sam with concern, gently prising Dean's hand out of the way so he could see. He moved aside Dean's jacket and shirt, revealing a fairly deep gash that was bleeding far more than he would have liked. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a handkerchief, albeit a soaking wet one, and pressed it against the wound ignoring the fresh stream of curses.

"Keep pressure on that until we get back." he said, somewhat unnecessarily since Dean knew the drill. He would have rolled his eyes if he'd had the energy. 

Sitting up Dean waited for the scenery to stop spinning and accepted Sam's help to get back on his feet. 

"Ok?" Sam said, once they were both standing, and Dean grimaced.

"No."

Sam moved closer, openly worried, but before he could say anything Dean continued. 

"I _really _hate freaking forests." 


	4. Chapter 4

"Yeah, we will. I'll tell him, Bobby. Thanks. Talk to you later." 

Sam disconnected the call just as the bathroom door opened and Dean came out, dressed in a tee shirt and sweatpants with his hair still damp. 

"Bobby wants you to call him, make sure for himself you're ok." said Sam and Dean looked exasperated.

"What did you go and tell him for, Sam?" he began but Sam held up his hands.

"Hey, I didn't call him – he's been trying to get hold of us all afternoon and was worried."

"You still could have given him the edited version." Dean grumbled and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Right, cos heaven forbid anyone should worry about you." 

Dean ignored that, making his way over to the coffee machine and switching it on. He sensed Sam watching him and glanced over his shoulder.

"Shower's all yours you know. I think I even left some hot water." 

"I want to check that shoulder first." said Sam, standing and picking up the first aid kit he'd already grabbed from their bag. 

"It's fine. Hardly even bleeding anymore." said Dean, deliberately dropping his hand away from where he'd been holding it. 

"Well then it won't take long, will it? Sit down." said Sam, using the tone of voice they'd both inherited from John.

Dean gritted his teeth but did as he was told, recognising it would be the quickest way to get Sam off his back. Sam gently moved Dean's tee shirt out of the way and pulled off the dressing Dean had put over it himself after showering. He shook his head.

"Stopped bleeding my ass, Dean. This looks like it needs stitches." 

Dean almost shrugged but stopped himself in time.

"Just use the butterfly strips, Sam. I'm not in the mood for being a pin cushion right now so if you want to practise your needlework you're gonna have to go find some cross stitch to do or something." 

Sam sighed, the one that let Dean know his brother thought he was being an idiot, but he could see Dean was in the mood for being stubborn about this so he let it go.

"Fine. Just don't come crying to me when you bleed to death overnight." 

Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Nice bedside manner there, Florence. You might want to cross 'doctor' off that list of second career options." 

"Funny. I'm gonna need to clean it." he said and Dean braced himself, knowing only too well just how much that was going to hurt. 

"Just get on with it, would you." 

He swore profusely as the antiseptic came into contact with the cut but managed to force himself to sit still. Once the initial sting died down it actually wasn't all that bad – Sam always had been surprisingly gentle when it came to this stuff. In fact, ever since Sam had been old enough to handle it, Dean had actually preferred his brother to patch him up rather than John, who'd always been a little brisk and Marine like about the whole thing. 

"Here." 

Dean opened his eyes, which until that moment he hadn't even realised he'd closed, to see Sam holding out a glass of water and some pills. He eyed them with suspicion.

"What are those?" 

"Painkillers and antibiotics. God knows what was in that water, not to mention that thing's mouth." said Sam and Dean grimaced. 

"Nice, thanks for pointing that out. We should save those till we really need them though." 

"We've got plenty, we stocked up last time." Sam countered and Dean reluctantly took them, not mentioning that he was actually feeling pretty crappy now he thought about it. Having swallowed them with a wince he looked over at the coffee machine that was now bubbling, trying to work out just how much energy it was gonna take to reach it. Before he could get up though Sam's hand rested on his good shoulder for a second.

"Stay there, I'll get it." he said and Dean gave him a tired smile. 

"Thanks, Sammy." 

As Sam poured the coffee for both of them he watched Dean out of the corner of his eye, taking note of the fact he was still a little paler than usual and kept shifting, as if trying to get comfortable with his shoulder. His thoughts drifted to the journey back to the cabin, the way by the end he'd been taking most of Dean's weight and how cold his brother's skin had been. Dean did at least look a lot warmer now and some of the colour was returning to his face, but Sam wasn't totally convinced just yet. 

"You gonna bring that over before it gets cold or just stand there and watch me for the rest of the night?" 

The question made Sam jump, since Dean hadn't even glanced in his direction. There was a certain amusement in his voice though and as Sam looked embarrassed at being caught, Dean smirked. Clearing his throat self consciously Sam attempted to look casual as he brought the coffee over. 

"I'm gonna take a shower. Call Bobby." he said, pushing his phone towards Dean since his brother's hadn't survived their little trip underwater.

By the time he came out Dean was scrolling through something on the laptop. He glanced up at Sam. 

"So Bobby didn't recognise whatever that thing was from the description I gave him. He's gonna go through his books though, see if there's anything in any of them."

"What else did he say?" said Sam, picking up Dean's empty mug as he walked past and putting it back in the kitchen area along with his own. 

"That only an idiot actually leans over the water when he thinks there's something in it." he said and Sam's lips twitched.

"Actually, he's got a point." he said and ducked as Dean threw a pencil at him with his good arm.

"Shut up. I don't remember you saying anything at the time, genius." 

"Yeah, well, we're both idiots obviously." said Sam and Dean shook his head. 

"Speak for yourself. Anyway, I've been doing a little digging while you were in the bathroom and there's nothing that sounds remotely like that thing, and definitely not for this area. There's nothing in Dad's journal either." 

Sam sat down on the chair opposite him. 

"There must be something." he said and Dean waved a hand towards the laptop, turning it to face Sam. 

"If you think you can find it, then go ahead. We know it sure as hell isn't a spirit, since it was pretty damn solid, but aside from that we got zilch." 

Sam frowned.

"There's gotta be something somewhere. This thing obviously exists so someone has to have come across it before." 

"You mean besides all those people that ended up dead?" 

Sam winced, not feeling like a reminder of how close Dean came to being on that list. 

"Yes, Dean, aside from it's victims." he said with exaggerated patience.

"Well good luck finding them." said Dean, standing up and walking over to the kitchen area.

"We did bring food, right?" 

Sam nodded without looking up. 

"Yeah, in the brown bag on the side." 

Dean opened it up and peered inside, pulling out some sandwiches and a bag of chips. Putting one of the sandwiches on the table next to Sam he sat down on the two seater couch opposite, opening his own carefully in a slightly awkward one handed movement. As he took a bite he shivered.

"This place could do with decent heating." he grumbled and Sam glanced at him. 

"You still cold?" he said, concerned.

"No, I just felt like commenting on the heating. Of course I'm still cold, that friggin water was about 50 below." 

Sam frowned.

"I know but you should be warming up by now." he began but Dean interrupted before he could finish.

"I never said I wasn't warming up, but that doesn't mean it's not still cold in here." 

Sam didn't look entirely convinced and got up, disappearing into the bedroom and reappearing carrying one of the few jumpers that they had.

"Here." he said, standing over Dean until he put it on. 

Dean had to admit that felt better but he wasn't about to fuel Sam's fussing. Pointedly going back to eating his sandwich he waited until Sam had sat down again before saying anything. 

"I just wanna know why every time it's me who always ends up in the water." he said and Sam raised his eyebrows.

"I got wet too, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, only because you were dumb enough to dive in." 

"To save your ass." 

"I had it covered." 

Sam shot him a disbelieving look.

"Right. Next time I'll just assume you got it covered and leave you to drown, shall I?" 

"There better not be a next time." muttered Dean, finishing the last of his sandwich and making a start on the chips. 

When Sam looked up again about half an hour later, rubbing his eyes, he realised the room was silent. Glancing over at Dean he gave a soft smile when he saw his brother was fast asleep, burrowed down into the jumper and wedged into the corner of the couch. He got up, stretching slightly cramped muscles, and went over. Crouching down he reached out and gently gave Dean's arm a shake, making sure to stay out of striking distance.

"Dean." 

Dean mumbled something and tried to pull away but had nowhere to go. Reluctantly his eyes opened and he squinted up at Sam.

"What?" he said, grumpily, and Sam grinned.

"You'd be a lot more comfortable in bed." he said and Dean glanced round, seeming to realise he was asleep on the couch for the first time.

"I wasn't asleep." he said, pushing himself upright with a wince and Sam stood.

"Sure you weren't. Come on." he said, reaching down and giving him a hand to get up. 

"What time is it anyway?" said Dean with a yawn as Sam guided him towards the bedroom.

"About 8 o'clock." 

Dean stopped.

"Are you kidding? I am not going to bed at 8 o'clock, Sam, I'm not seven."

"No, but it's been a hell of a day and you're obviously tired. Humour me, ok? We can get an early start on this again in the morning." 

Whatever Dean had been about to say was cut off by another massive yawn and Sam pointedly raised one eyebrow. Realising he'd just proven Sam's case for him Dean gave in with bad grace, stumbling into the bedroom and getting into the bed nearest the door. Sam watched as Dean pulled the covers up over himself and slid one hand under his pillow to check the knife was there. 

"G'night, Sam." he mumbled from under the covers and Sam grinned.

"Night, Dean." he said, going back into the other room and pulling the door to behind him. He switched the light on and sat back down at the laptop but even as he started reading the words blurred on the screen. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. 

Maybe it would be better to take his own advice.

Powering down the laptop he checked the door was locked, made sure the salt lines in front of the windows were unbroken and switched off the coffee machine. Turning out the light he made quick use of the bathroom before making his way quietly into the bedroom. He could tell Dean was already asleep and, lying down in his own bed, within minutes Sam had joined him. 

When Dean woke he forgot about his shoulder for a moment and automatically turned over, hissing as he leant on it and quickly remembered. Sitting up he pulled his tee shirt back and was pleased to see there was hardly any blood on the bandage. At least he could show Sam it really hadn't needed stitching. 

Glancing over at the other bed he saw Sam was still buried under the covers, only a bit of hair showing, so he got up quietly and went into the other room. He picked up his watch from the table and was relieved to see it was still working. 

Having a waterproof one really did prove invaluable sometimes. 

He'd already guessed it was early, judging by the light, so he wasn't surprised to see it was only just after 6am. Surprisingly he felt totally awake and now the initial stiffness was wearing off he found his shoulder didn't feel too bad either. He rotated it experimentally, satisfied that he could make full use of that arm if he had to. Emptying out the coffee pot from the night before he set it going again and headed for the bathroom. By the time Sam surfaced an hour later he was on his second cup and was practically finished cleaning the two guns laid out before him on the table.

"Ah, sleeping beauty awakes." 

Sam mumbled something unintelligible in response as he disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Dean grinned and got up to pour what was clearly going to be a necessary cup of coffee.

Ten minutes later Sam emerged looking a little more awake and Dean waved a hand towards the mug.

Sam picked it up and took a long sip, sitting down in the chair opposite Dean.

"How long you been up?"

"About an hour. I was starting to think you were gonna sleep through the whole day." 

"This from the man who objects to be woken up before lunchtime." said Sam dryly. 

He watched as Dean put together the second gun, clicking the final piece into place.

"Are they ok?" he said and Dean nodded.

"Yeah, they're fine. Do me a favour though and next time you dive into water remember to leave your gun on the side as well as your jacket, least that way I'll only have to dry out the one." 

Sam rolled his eyes.

"I'll make a note. How's the shoulder?" 

"Much better. And no, it didn't bleed overnight so I was right about the stitches."

"Whatever. Just make sure you carry on taking the antibiotics today. No good just taking one." 

Dean made a half hearted agreement and stood up, taking the guns into the bedroom to put back in their bag. 

"So what do you want to do first – check out the creepy old building or go back to the river?" he said as he came out and Sam reached across to open the laptop.

"We might as well check out the building first. No point in coming across this thing again until we've got some idea what we're dealing with. Besides, I'm convinced the two are connected." he said. 

Dean nodded.

"Ok, well you make a start on that and I'll head back into town pick up some more supplies, if we're gonna be out here longer." 

Sam listened the roar of the Impala's engine fading into the distance as he scrolled through the information on the land registry site. It took forever to get back to the right period but eventually he found what he was looking for. He wrote down the name on the pad in front of him and frowned. 

There was something familiar about it.

Opening up another file he scanned it quickly, stopping when he came across what he was looking for. He leant back in the chair, a thoughtful look on his face. 

Things were definitely starting to get more interesting. 


	5. Chapter 5

Sam had heard the rumble of the Impala's engine long before she reached the cabin and he was standing impatiently on the edge of the steps as Dean came through the trees. He saw his brother glance at him quizzically through the windshield as he drove round behind the cabin. The engine switched off, a door slammed and moments later Dean appeared again, walking quickly.

"What's up, Sam? Did something happen?" he asked as he came up the stairs and Sam grinned.

"Maybe. I think I might have found something." he said, reaching out and taking one of the bags Dean was carrying from him. 

"Yeah? Like something that'll tell us how to kill that thing?" 

"Not quite, but we might have a place to start looking at least." Sam replied, dumping the bag on the counter in the kitchen area and heading for the laptop. 

Dean put his own bag down and shrugged his coat off, joining Sam at the table. 

"Ok – amaze me." 

Sam leaned forward, adopting what Dean had mentally christened 'the professor mode'. It was something he often did when he was explaining something and Dean found it both familiar and amusing. 

"Alright, I went back through the land registry information and I found a record of who owned that piece of land, and the house built on it. In 1984 it was bought by a guy called Jin Sun Okanaru."

"Well, that's a good old American name." interrupted Dean and Sam gave him a pointed look until his brother held his hands up, indicating Sam should continue. 

"As I was saying, Mr Okanaru bought the land and built that house on it for himself and his son to live in. It looks like his wife died about six months beforehand, where they used to live in Ohio. Anyway it all seems pretty straightforward until we get to the following year. Now when I first saw the name, I knew it sounded familiar. Turns out the first victim, the teenager who drowned? His name was Thomas Okanaru." 

Dean raised his eyebrows. 

"You're kidding?"

"Nope. Mr Okanaru was the one who filed the missing persons report two days before they found his body washed up down river." 

"Well that's a coincidence. What a minute – _Thomas _Okanaru?" 

Sam gave a slight smiled.

"Yeah, I know. The Okanaru's were first generation immigrants and it seems like they wanted their son to blend in in their new home. Which is ironic really." 

"Why?" 

"Because he was in all likelihood murdered for being Japanese."

"Ok, back up here a second, Sam – you said he was the first victim, right? So what do you mean he was murdered?" 

Sam pulled up an old newspaper report onscreen and angled the laptop to face Dean.

"Look, this is a report from the trial. From what I understand Thomas had a hard time fitting in up here. There was a group of boys at his school who took exception to having – and I quote – a 'slanty eyed invader' in their midst."

"Nice." said Dean, looking disgusted, and Sam nodded.

"I know. Anyway, they bullied him mercilessly, so much so that his Dad actually went to the school about it, but the problem was these boys came from powerful families in the area. People with money who'd lived here for generations. So the school basically pretended it wasn't happening. On that night it sounds like things escalated and the bullying got out of hand, with the end result being Thomas dead in the river. Mr Okanaru reported him missing and the police filed the paperwork but didn't really do much else about it until his body was spotted by someone walking their dog. They couldn't exactly ignore the fact it looked like he'd been pretty badly beaten up before he died, so they launched an investigation and it came out that he'd last been seen with this group of boys. The kids were arrested when they found some of Thomas's stuff at the ringleader's house, so they had to take it to trial. Trouble was these people could afford the best lawyers and the whole thing was a whitewash. The boys admitted to getting into a fight with Thomas but denied any bullying and insisted he'd been alive when they left him. The whole town closed ranks, they didn't exactly want the reputation of being a place where racists and murderers lived, and it only took three days for all the boys to be cleared."

Dean shook his head.

"So these kids make Thomas's life hell, beat him half to death and leave him to drown in the river and because Mummy and Daddy are rich pillars of the community they get away with it?"

"Pretty much."

"You know I've said it before, Sam, monsters I get. People are just." he tailed off and Sam nodded.

"I know. Mr Okanaru was naturally devastated. He stayed in the house but he became a recluse by all accounts. There's no record of him until a year later when he was found dead next to the spot where you were grabbed. There was nothing suspicious about it, the death report said it was a heart attack. With no living relatives the house was left empty until eventually I guess most people forgot it was even there." 

Dean looked thoughtful as he leaned back against the wall.

"Ok, so we know there's a connection between that house and the first death, but Thomas wasn't a victim of whatever that thing was and his father died of natural causes. I'm not sure how that helps us, Sam."

Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm working on that bit. At least we know there's a link. That's a start, right?" 

"Maybe. How come we didn't realise before that Thomas was beaten and not just drowned?"

"Because it was left off the medical report. That newspaper article was from an out of town reporter, the local one never really covered the case."

"More covering their tracks." 

"Exactly. No one here wanted this to get out, and it pretty much didn't."

"So the whole thing was just forgotten. Except by Mr Okanaru." 

"Yeah." 

"That sucks." 

Sam nodded. 

"I know. Question is, how does it tie in with the other victims?" 

Dean sighed. 

"I don't suppose any of them were these boys that murdered Thomas?" 

"Actually, one of them was. The fourth victim, he drowned four years later on a break home from college."

"Well that's something at least. Normally you gotta feel sorry for these people, but in his case I reckon we can make an exception. None of the others are linked though?" 

"Not that I can see, but the victims have always been locals. Not that this place gets that many tourists, but there's always a few hikers come up and use this cabin."

"And none of them ever drowned?" 

"No. We've got 31 victims, if you don't include Thomas. Some years there were two deaths but mostly just one. There's no real pattern to it either, other than the local thing and the month." 

Dean looked incredulous.

"And the cops here seriously never thought this was at all weird?"

Sam shrugged.

"Obviously not. Maybe they just like a quiet life." 

"Or maybe no one here ever learns to swim." 

Sam smirked a little. 

"There is that. I was thinking though, Mr Okanaru died a year after his son, right?"

"Right."

"And that was a month before the first unrelated death, the forestry worker I told you about."

"Ok. I take it there's a point to this?"

"What if Mr Okanaru did something? What if he wanted to punish the town and called something up, something that would kill but only locals. Perhaps the heart attack was the price. It wouldn't be the first deal to require a death to seal it." 

Dean winced and shifted uncomfortably, aware of the hidden undertones to that particular statement. An awkward silence hung between them for a moment, Sam deliberately avoiding his gaze. Dean caved first, clearing his throat.

"Ok, so could be something summoned by the father to avenge the son. Have we had anything like that come up so far?" 

For a moment Sam didn't reply and Dean wondered if he was gonna kick off the whole deal conversation again, but eventually he just sighed and shook his head.

"Not like this. What grabbed you is real, solid, so it's not a spirit. There's a few creatures that can be summoned and controlled, but none of them have a link to water like this."

"Great. So we're no further ahead than we were before."

"Hey, at least we have an idea 'why' we just need to work out 'what'." said Sam placatingly. 

"You're right, we're so much further along than we were yesterday. Have you got your phone? I'll update Bobby and see if he knows of anything that could be summoned like that."

Sam reached into his jacket pocket and tossed the phone to Dean.

"We really need to replace yours. I think the SIM card should still work, it wasn't too wet when I took it out."

"We might as well wait till we get to the next job. I don't think this place exactly has the biggest choice of shops, Sam." 

Sam frowned.

"Alright, but in that case no taking off on your own since I've got no way of getting in touch with you."

Dean pulled a face at that as he waited for Bobby to answer but said nothing.

"Bobby? No, it's Dean. Yeah, I gotta use his phone since mine got drowned. I'm going to. I know, I'm going to – cross my heart."

Sam couldn't help grinning as he guessed Bobby was giving him the same lecture about not having a phone. Dean noticed and elbowed him lightly as he walked past, heading outside to the porch so Sam couldn't listen in. 

Five minutes later he came back inside, handing the phone back to Sam.

"He says he's gonna look into it. He thinks it makes sense about the vengeance thing though."

Sam's lips twitched.

"You mean for once he doesn't think we're morons?" 

Dean smirked.

"This time, not so much. You know since we understand the deal with the house now we should probably go back, see if this Okanaru guy left behind any clues." 

Sam looked reluctant.

"Ok, but we're not going too near the water this time. Not till we know what this thing is." 

"Whatever." 

It was a little easier to reach the house this time, given that they'd already cleared a path the day before. As they'd gone by the spot where Dean had almost joined the list of victims Sam had grabbed hold of his arm and frogmarched him past in a way that was almost amusing. It wasn't like Dean was keen to repeat the experience after all, the sting when he moved his shoulder was reminder enough.

They searched the house for nearly an hour but either Mr Okanaru had been methodically tidy or the place had been cleared after he'd died. Either way there was nothing, except for a small red book Sam found hidden under the floorboards.

"You think that has something to do with it?" said Dean, peering over Sam's shoulder and Sam shook his head.

"I don't know. How's your Japanese?" he said ruefully and Dean sighed.

"About as good as yours. We'll take it with us anyway." 

As they made their way back Dean heard a noise in the water. He stopped, seeing Sam freeze beside him. He glanced across.

"Sounds like we got company." he said, quietly. 

Sam clenched his jaw. They didn't even have their guns on them this time, only Dean's ever present knife.

"Dean!" he hissed, as his brother started to move towards the river.

Dean shot him a glare and put a finger to his lips. Sam ground his teeth together but followed, staying within grabbing distance. He wasn't taking any chances this time.

They stood back a safe distance from the water's edge, looking around for any sign of the creature. The air was completely still and Sam guessed that if he'd checked his phone the signal would have gone again. Dean was just about to say something when there was a rustling sound, just off to their left. Meeting Sam's gaze he inclined his head towards a bush that was a short distance away from them and Sam nodded. 

He'd seen it move too.

Cautiously they made their way over, Dean drawing the knife out of his belt and holding it in his right hand. They stopped before the bush and Dean crouched down. He peered between the branches but with the overhanging trees blocking a lot of the sunlight it was too dark to see anything. He sensed Sam crouch down beside him and turned his head.

"What do you think?" he whispered.

"I definitely saw it move." Sam said, equally as quietly. "But we're not really ready for this right now, in case you hadn't noticed?" 

Before Dean could answer he saw a glow suddenly appear in between the foliage. Remembering last time he grabbed Sam's shoulder and pushed him backwards, making his brother overbalance, but even as he was backing up he saw something shoot out and grab his ankle.

"Damn it!"

He cursed as he was yanked off his feet, landing hard on the ground. The thing started pulling him, seemingly intent on dragging him right through the bush and into the water again. This time Sam was ready though.

Scrambling to his knees he grabbed hold of Dean firmly and held on for dear life. 

No way this thing was getting a second shot at his brother. 

Dean kicked with his other foot, trying to dislodge the claw-like hand that was fastened round his ankle. It wasn't budging though and despite Sam's best efforts he was starting to get nearer and nearer the bush.

"Put your back into it, Sam!" 

Sam grimaced and pulled harder, digging in his own heels to try and get more leverage. It still wasn't working. Suddenly an idea occurred. 

"Your boot!"

"What!" 

"Your boot, kick it off!"

Dean immediately transferred his attention from dislodging the creature to getting his boot off. Unfortunately, given how much running around they did, he always made sure his laces were done up tightly. His feet were beginning to disappear into the bush now and he could feel something running down his shoulder, which was most likely blood from the gash opening up again. 

This was starting to piss him off.

Managing to lean forward, taking Sam with him, he made a desperate lunge for the laces with his knife. The blade was razor sharp, as always, and sure enough it managed to slice through the top two. 

It was enough. With one final kick the boot came loose and he and Sam flew backwards, landing in an undignified heap. There was an unearthly shriek from inside the bush and something moved, lighting fast, from out of the foliage and disappeared into the water.

Sam managed to untangle himself and got to his feet, giving Dean a hand up. Dean stood, hopping on one leg now, and glared at the spot where the creature disappeared. Suddenly he heard a chuckle. He turned round.

"What the hell is so funny, Sam?" 

Sam tried to look serious but failed miserably. 

"Nothing. It's just. You lost your shoe." 

For a second Dean was puzzled, then it came back to him. Sam standing by the drain cover on one leg, looking pathetic, after Bela had stolen the rabbit's foot. 

"That is so not funny." 

"It's a little funny." 

"No, it really isn't!" 

Clearly Dean wasn't in the mood right now so with great effort Sam schooled his features into an expression of sympathetic concern as opposed to outright amusement. Looking at the water he spotted Dean's boot suddenly, floating on the surface.

"Hey look – there it is." 

Dean followed Sam's finger as he pointed.

"Great, that's just perfect. Not much good to me now, is it?" 

Sam looked around and spotted a long stick nearby. Grabbing it he stepped as close to the edge as he dared and leaned out to hook the boot, ready to let go if anything pulled back. Clearly the creature had given up for the moment and he was able to drag it near enough to hook out of the water. He picked it up, holding it out triumphantly to Dean.

"Here you go." 

Dean didn't look impressed.

"What do you want, a round of applause?" he grumbled, snatching it out of Sam's hand and looking dismayed as he tipped it upside down only to watch water pour out of it.

"Geez, a little gratitude, Dean. I just saved you from the scary monster and got your shoe back. Some people are never happy." 

Dean glared at him while putting the extremely wet boot back on with a grimace. 

"You did not save me, Sam, you told me to cut my boot off which was not by the way the best plan you've ever had. And this boot is never gonna be the same you know, it'll dry all out of shape. I liked these boots." he said mournfully. 

"Yeah, well, I like having you in one piece more, Dean." said Sam dryly and Dean ducked his head. 

"Fine. But I'm still pissed about the boots. Anyway, I got a more important question for you."

"What?"

"Just what the hell was that thing?" 


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N I should point out that the creature the boys are hunting in this story is real – or at least real in the sense of there being a legend about it (and wasn't that just an interesting Google search?) – but I have used artistic licence for some of the details. Just in case anyone was interested enough that they were going to look it up… _

"I think I got it." 

Dean looked over from where he held his boot in front of the heater, trying to mould it back into shape.

"Got what?" 

Sam looked exasperated.

"What that thing is."

Dean just grunted and carried on with what he was doing, wearing the same disgruntled expression he'd had all the way back to the cabin. That was one journey Sam was not keen to ever experience again. Dean had been muttering about the ruined boot so much Sam had been tempted to push him in the river, just so the other one would match. 

When nothing further was forthcoming Dean looked up again.

"What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?" 

"No, just your actual attention. Put the damn boot down for five minutes, would you?" 

Dean said something under his breath but duly left the boot resting in front of the heater and made his way over to the table. 

"Ok, you have my undivided attention – now what the hell is that thing?" 

Sam turned the laptop round so Dean could see the screen.

"It's a Kappa."

"It's a what?" 

"A Kappa, Dean."

Dean frowned.

"Never heard of them."

Sam shook his head.

"That's because it's Japanese. It's a water demon, common legend over there, but there's never been anything written about it outside of Japan."

"Great, so now demons take vacations?" said Dean and Sam smirked.

"No, but Mr Okanaru was Japanese, remember? It makes sense in a way that he'd conjure up something he was familiar with, something he knew all about. That's probably what's in that red book – information on how to summon and control the thing." 

"Which is perfect, since we've established neither of us speak Japanese. Are you sure that's what this thing is? I mean Japan must have more than one creature indigenous to its culture."

Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Indigenous?" 

Dean shoved his shoulder.

"Hey, I know big words too, Sammy."

"I'm not even gonna ask from where. But yes, I'm sure. The description matches what we saw in the water and in that bush. It's sort of almost like a turtle - the beak bit of it's mouth is what cut your shoulder and that's why it can survive perfectly well under water." 

Dean stared at him.

"You're kidding. You're seriously telling me that we're dealing with a Mutant Ninja Turtle? That is just _so _wrong" 

Sam rolled his eyes. 

"I'm not even gonna go there - if you're done? As I was _saying_, it lives in the water and from what I've read it usually kills it's victims by drowning although sometimes it does like to eat their entrails."

Dean grimaced.

"Dude, that's gross."

"Gross but true. In this case it seems to have stuck to drowning though, which may be something to do with whatever Mr Okanaru asked for when he summoned it."

Dean sat down on the other chair, peering at the image on the screen of the Kappa.

"So you think he definitely summoned it?" 

Sam nodded. 

"Has to be. No way that thing found its way over here by itself. And most demons can be summoned and controlled, for a price."

Quickly moving the conversation on before they could get into that topic again, Dean reached out and scrolled down the information.

"So I take it this tells us how we can kill it?" 

Sam sighed.

"Actually, no. There's all kinds of information on the legend, where it started, supposed documented cases, all that stuff, but nothing on how these things can be defeated. But Bobby's got some of the more obscure books on demonology, I'm gonna give him a call and see if he can find the Kappa in any of those. Or even any water demon – they probably all work in the same way."

"Probably isn't gonna cut it if we try something and get it wrong, Sam. We'll just end up pissing it off knowing our luck and personally, I don't intend giving it a third shot at killing me." 

"Neither do I." said Sam, with feeling, as he dug his phone out of his pocket. "I'll make sure Bobby tries to find the Kappa in particular, ok? But unless you can master Japanese in the next few hours we may have no choice but to improvise." 

Dean sighed, knowing Sam was right. 

"Like we don't have enough monsters to deal with of our own, now they're importing them." he muttered, getting up and going back over to check on his boot while Sam dialled Bobby's number and stepped out onto the porch.

A few minutes later he came back inside.

"Good news – Bobby thinks he may have actually a book somewhere on Eastern demonology. He's gonna go look for it and get back to us." 

"That man does have one hell of a library." 

"Tell me about it. Hey, has your shoulder stopped bleeding yet?" said Sam suddenly and Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I think so."

Sam would have preferred to check for himself but it had been a fight just to get Dean to let him patch it up again when they got back. Playing tug of war with the Kappa hadn't helped much and Sam was still convinced it would be better being stitched. 

"Did you take the antibiotics at least?" 

Dean gave a long suffering sigh.

"No, not yet."

Sam headed for the kitchen area.

"I'll make us some food and you can take them with that." he said, opening up one of the bags Dean had come back with earlier.

Dean bit his tongue and said nothing. If taking antibiotics for a few days made Sam happy then who was he to argue? Given Sam's gift for lecturing it was definitely the lesser of two evils. 

Not to mention the fact he was slightly grossed out now by the thought he'd been bitten by a demon turtle. 

They'd just finished their food when Sam's phone rang. Dean was nearest, so he answered.

"Hey Bobby. Really? That's great. Hang on a second." 

Dean stood up and went over to the table, grabbing the notebook and pencil Sam had been using before.

"Ok, go on. Right. Yeah. Uh-huh. Seriously? Ok, if that's what the book says. I'm just saying it's a little weird. Ok, good point. Yeah, we will – we'll call you when it's done. Ok, bye." 

Sam was looking at him expectantly.

"So?" 

Dean handed him the notebook.

"So he was able to find a section on the Kappa itself and, once he was done laughing at what it looks like, he found what we need." 

Sam scanned the instructions, frowning a little.

"We actually have to get it out of the water first?" 

"Yup. Guess it's bait time again." 

Sam's frown deepened.

"I don't like the sound of that, Dean. Look what happened the last two times, that thing is incredibly strong. We got lucky before, we might not be a third time."

Dean held his arms wide.

"So what do you suggest, Sam? We can't kill this thing unless we get it out of the water and onto dry land so we can complete the ritual. They're in their element in water, it won't work if it's still in the river." 

Sam sighed. 

"Ok, but why not let me be bait? I'll lure it out and you can do the ritual."

Dean was shaking his head before Sam had finished.

"Because your Latin is way better than mine."

"Your Latin is good enough when you want it to be." accused Sam and Dean shrugged.

"Alright then, because I say so, ok? Now do you wanna get this done or do you wanna stand here and talk about it till it gets dark?" 

As Dean headed for the bedroom to gather their stuff Sam rubbed the back of his neck. This whole taking chances thing was getting worse and worse since the deal, and he was starting to reach the end of his tether. Maybe it was his brother's way of coping with his imminent demise but for Sam it was just making things harder. 

At this rate he'd end up losing Dean long before the year was up.

He was dragged from his thoughts by Dean's reappearance, looking up in time to catch the gun that was thrown at him. 

"You know this won't kill it, since it's a demon." he said and Dean shrugged as he tucked his into his waistband.

"No, but it'll give it something to think about while we drag it's ass out of the water. Come on – we're wasting daylight here." he said, picking up his boot and pulling a face as he realised it was still damp inside.

"Oh that's just nasty." he muttered, reaching down to do up the newly replaced laces.

Despite the seriousness of the situation Sam couldn't help grinning, quickly hiding it behind a cough when Dean looked up to glare at him.

"Not one word, you understand?" he said and Sam just nodded, looking innocent.

By the time they reached the spot where they'd last seen the Kappa the sun was starting to disappear behind the trees. Dean glanced at his watch and saw it was nearly 4 o'clock. Knowing that it got dark earlier this time of year he didn't waste any time. 

"Right, here's how we're gonna play it. I'll go splash around, see if we can get the ugly fella's attention, and you be ready with that stake and the ritual, ok?" 

Sam looked unsure.

"Dean." he said but he didn't get a chance to finish as his brother had already taken off his jacket and was heading for the water. Gritting his teeth he hefted the stake in his hand they'd quickly fashioned from the branch of a Rowan tree, as instructed by Bobby, and scanned the piece of paper covered with the Latin phrases in Dean's familiar scrawl. 

He had a bad feeling about this. 

"Hey, little fugly dude. I'm ready for round three if you are, pal." 

Sam winced.

"Nice, Dean, piss it off why don't you? Cos that always works _so _well." 

Dean didn't even bother turning round, focusing all his attention on the water. There was no response to his challenge and he found himself hoping that it hadn't gone too far after their last encounter. Now the sun was hidden behind the trees it was already beginning to get darker and he really didn't want to be stuck doing this in the pitch black. 

He was definitely beginning to miss street lights. 

He was just about to say something else when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a faint glow under the water. 

"Now you're talking. Get ready, Sam." he whispered over his shoulder and Sam moved nearer, stake at the ready.

Dean carefully slid the gun out of his waistband and laid it on the grass next to him. The glow was getting nearer and he braced himself, not about to be taken by surprise again. For a brief tense moment nothing happened, then the surface of the water surged upwards and Dean pulled back slightly as he saw the clawed hand reaching for him. 

He had to let it get hold, so he could pull it out of the water, but he cursed as it naturally grabbed onto his injured shoulder. Gripping the Kappa's 'arm' with his other hand Dean fell backwards, taking it with him. It shrieked as it came out of the water fully, landing on top of him and driving all the air from his lungs.

"When you're ready, Sam!" Dean wheezed and Sam grabbed hold of it's other 'arm', trying to lift some of the weight of his brother. 

For a turtle, it was pretty damn heavy.

"Come on!" said Dean, breathlessly, struggling to get the upper hand even with Sam's help. He reached out with his hand, feeling along the grass until he touched the butt of his gun. Scrabbling to get hold of it he extended his arm as far as possible, gritting his teeth as he felt the claw cutting into his already damaged shoulder. Finally he managed to get a good enough grip to pick the gun up and, transferring it quickly to his free hand, he wedged the gun against the soft underbelly of the creature and fired. 

The shot was deafening at such close range but it did the job as the Kappa shrieked in pain and the grip on Dean's shoulder suddenly loosened. It was all the gap they needed and Dean quickly moved out from under the thing, pushing it off and onto its back with Sam's help.

"Now, Sammy!" 

Sam quickly picked up the stake he'd dropped to help Dean and, lifting it high, brought it down with his all his might onto the exposed underside of the Kappa.

With a disgusting squelching noise the wood went straight through, breaking even the weird shell like structure on its back and effectively pinning the Kappa to the ground. It shrieked and writhed, clawing at the stake, but the fact it was Rowan wood meant it drained the creature's strength and it was at their mercy.

Sam was watching, mesmerised in a horrified kind of way, and Dean whacked his leg to get his attention.

"Hey - Latin, remember?" 

Sam jumped and blushed, digging in his pocket for the piece of paper.

"Right, sorry." 

He began to recite the Latin and the creature shrieked even louder. Dean had got to his feet and backed up a little, out of range of the flailing limbs. He looked down and saw his shirt was soaked with blood on his left shoulder and he swore. Another shirt he was gonna have to try and get blood out of.

They should have shares in a stain removal company.

Pressing his other hand against it, wincing, he listened as Sam continued the incantation. Suddenly he was aware of something to his left and he whirled round. His eyes widened as he saw a Japanese man standing by the edge of the water, watching them with a look of anger.

"Oh now is _so_ not a good time." he said, watching as the spirit stalked towards them. 

"_You must not do this!" _

The heavily accented words were whispered but somehow Dean heard them clearly. Before he could respond he was flying through the air, hitting a tree and sliding down to land in a heap at its base.

"Dean!"

He heard Sam stop the Latin to yell and blinked, trying to clear the stars from his vision.

"I think we've got a problem, Sam." 


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N I must just say a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story – I really wasn't expecting such a great response and so many of you have said it reads like an episode that I am over the moon! I hope you all enjoy the final instalment.. _

Sam spared a second to actually stare incredulously at Dean momentarily.

"A problem? Ya think?" he hissed, marvelling as always at his brother's gift for understatement. 

The spirit was stalking towards him, splitting its attention from Sam to the demon still pinned to the ground between them. Sam's eyes widened as he saw the stake begin to rise, knowing that if the Kappa got free they were in serious trouble.

More so than they already were.

Dean had staggered to his feet now, bracing himself against the tree he'd just bounced off and shaking his head to try and clear the ringing in his ears. 

"Hey, Mr Miyagi – we're not done." he said and the spirit turned to face him, the stake becoming still. 

"_You must not do this." _

"Yeah, we got that part thanks. Look, I sympathise with what happened to your son and all, but we can't just let you carry on killing people, pal. That thing is a monster – we gotta do this, whether you like it or not." 

The former Mr Okanaru was coming towards him now, almost within touching distance. 

If he weren't a spirit. 

Dean backed up as far as he could with the tree behind him and frantically motioned with his hand for Sam to carry on with the ritual. 

Torn between helping his brother and finishing the job, Sam reluctantly began chanting again leading to increased shrieking from the Kappa. He winced as the spirit whirled round.

So much for subtlety.

Before it could start trying to interfere again Dean moved, putting himself between the spirit and Sam. 

"We're not done talking here." 

Mr Okanaru stared at him with deadened eyes.

"_I must have my revenge." _

_Great_, thought Dean_. I always get the psychotic ones_. 

Aloud he said "You've had your revenge, Mr Okanaru. 31 people have died, people who mostly didn't even have anything to do with your son's death. I get that you want to avenge Thomas, I really do, but you're punishing people who've done nothing wrong. It's time to stop, ok?" 

The spirit regarded him impassively. 

"_You do not understand." _

Dean raised his eyebrows. 

"The need for revenge? Oh, believe me – I understand. But this is not the way to do it. You're not getting revenge here, you're committing cold blooded murder. What was the deal, huh? One victim per year, during the same month your son died? Well, I don't think Donatello over there has been sticking to the rules cos we got a lot more dead than just one person per year. And the local thing? I'm not exactly local and it was fast enough to look at me as a happy meal. You've lost control, not that you ever really had it in the first place, but now it's just killing out of hand. We have to destroy it. I'm sorry." 

Even as he finished speaking he recognised the last few words of Latin at the end of the ritual. There was an high pitched scream that had both him and Sam covering their ears and the Kappa burst into flames, black smoke billowing everywhere as it writhed in the midst of the inferno.

"_No!"_

The spirit reacted with horror, raising his arm and flinging Dean across the clearing into Sam. They both hit the ground hard, Sam's head bouncing of the packed dirt and his elbow connecting painfully with Dean's ribs.

Dean groaned.

"This is so unfair." 

Getting to his knees he watched as the spirit came towards them. He knew they had to finish this, and fast, since they were to all intents and purposes unarmed against the enraged Mr Okanaru. Who knew they'd be getting two for the price of one? Sometimes they were just too lucky.

Grabbing Sam's arm he dragged his brother to his feet and the two of them staggered backwards, trying to put some distance between them and the spirit.

"Sam, was he buried or cremated?" 

Sam shook his head, not quite with it after his head connecting with the ground.

"Uh, what?"

"The old guy! Was he buried or cremated?" said Dean urgently and Sam blinked as he tried to remember the obituary he'd read that morning. 

"Um, cremated. Yeah, definitely cremated. No relatives to arrange a funeral, remember?" 

"So if it's not bones keeping him here then what is it? We've killed the damn demon!"

They both stopped as their heels hit trees behind them. There was nowhere else to go. Suddenly Sam's gaze widened as he realised something. Reaching into his pocket he fumbled a little as he pulled out the red book. Not even hesitating he threw it across the clearing, watching as it sailed through the air in a wide arc before landing in the middle of the still burning demon. 

It caught almost instantly and the spirit stopped in his tracks, staring at them furiously for a moment before he burst into flames and disappeared. Sam sagged against the tree, reaching up to touch the back of his head gingerly. Beside him Dean leant forward, resting his hands on his knees.

"Well that was fun. Nice call on the book there, Sam." he said, turning his head and grinning at his brother. 

Sam shrugged.

"It was all I could think of. I figured since he probably used it to summon the demon there was a lot of him bound to it. I'm just glad it worked."

"You and me both." 

Dean straightened, wincing as yet more bruises made themselves known, and walked towards the smouldering pile of ash. It was all there was left of the demon, or Mr Okanaru. He stared at it contemplatively for a moment.

"Hey – you ok?" 

He turned as he saw Sam had come to stand beside him and was now looking at him with concern. 

"Yeah, of course. Listen, you're gonna be pleased about this,"

"About what?" 

Dean lifted his blood covered shoulder.

"I think I'm gonna have to let you stitch this after all." he said, brightly.

Sam stared at him, then shook his head.

"You're absolutely right, Dean. I'm thrilled."

"Knew you would be." 

By the time they'd reached the cabin again it was almost dark. Sam had cleaned Dean's shoulder and neatly stitched it, managing not to say 'I told you so' somehow, and after a hot shower each they'd been asleep before 10 o'clock again. 

It was Sam's turn to be up first the following morning and he had the coffee and toast ready by the time Dean surfaced a little after 8 o'clock. 

"So we should go back and torch the house." said Dean, chewing his last piece of toast, and Sam looked grim.

"Yeah, I know. Seems such a shame though. It'll be like he and Thomas never even existed." 

Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Oh I wouldn't go that far – I reckon there's a body count that more than testifies to the fact they were here." 

Sam sipped the last of his coffee.

"You said yourself you couldn't blame him, Dean. He was trying to get justice the only way he knew how." 

Dean stood, taking their plates and mugs into the kitchen area.

"That's all well and good but he was killing a hell of a lot of innocent people along the way, Sam. Only one of those people who drowned were actually involved in Thomas's death and ok, maybe the town did help cover it up. But are you seriously telling me you think all those people deserved to drown?" 

Sam sighed, avoiding Dean's gaze.

"No, of course not. But we of all people should understand about vengeance, right?" 

Dean watched as Sam went into the bedroom to get their stuff together, a concerned frown on his face. He really didn't like where Sam was going with this one. 

They packed the car before hiking back to the old house, Dean still complaining now and then about his uncomfortable left boot. 

"We'll buy you a new pair, ok? When we replace your phone. Now would you please, for the love of god, quit bitching about the boot?" 

"They won't be the same." said Dean, petulantly, when his brother had turned round again to carry on walking. 

Sam counted to ten in his head.

He really did wonder sometimes which of them was older.

When they reached the house, a mercifully short while later, they didn't waste any time. Dean poured some gasoline around inside while Sam added some salt to the outer walls just to be on the safe side. Standing a short distance away Dean threw a match and there was a whoosh as the place went up instantly. They stood for a moment, watching the flames. 

"Hey, Sam?" 

Sam glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" 

"You do see that this guy was wrong, don't you? I mean look what happened – he wanted revenge but all he got was a ton of dead bodies and nothing to show for it. It was never gonna bring Thomas back and all he did was end up hurting innocent people, and himself." 

Sam swallowed.

"I know that. I'm not stupid. Doesn't mean I don't understand why he did it." 

Dean sighed, not exactly satisfied with that answer.

"Alright, but then you gotta understand how pointless it is too, right? Look at us. All our lives Dad was on this quest for revenge, teaching us to live exactly the same way and for what? We killed the yellow eyed demon. But at what price, Sam? I mean really, was it worth it? Worth losing Dad, worth losing Jess. Worth losing you. Cos I don't think so." 

Sam looked down, shifting the dirt with his boot. Dean was right, he knew that. And he agreed, wholeheartedly, especially since it was ultimately going to lead to him losing Dean too within the year. He had a feeling he knew where his brother was heading with this though and he also had a feeling Dean wasn't going to like his answer.

Dean shifted so he was facing Sam, moving closer to try and get his brother to meet his gaze.

"Sam, I need you to promise me you aren't gonna be like Mr Okanaru when I'm gone. I mean it, it's not worth it." 

Sam did raise his head then, eyes flashing.

"Not worth it? Right, I was forgetting – it's only you after all." 

Dean mentally slapped himself for the wrong choice of words.

"I don't mean it like that, I mean it won't change things. You have to let it go – forgive the demon, forgive Dad. Hell, forgive me for making the deal. You can't let the need for revenge eat you up inside, Sam. Otherwise you'll end up just like him." 

His eyes pleaded with Sam to understand, to make the promise, but Sam couldn't.

"I'm sorry, Dean. You're asking me to be ok with you dying and I won't be. I just won't. However you want to flower it up, or give noble speeches about dying for a good cause, I'm not giving up. I'm not gonna stop trying to save you, but if I do fail? I'm not sure if I can forgive you for making that deal. And I'm not sure I can forgive Dad for putting us in this position in the first place. And as for what I'm gonna be like when you're gone, well I'm afraid you don't get a say in that. Cos you're not gonna be here to see it. I'm sorry." 

With that he turned and walked away. Dean stood there, swallowing as he tried to get rid of the lump in his throat. He'd had a horrible idea that Sam felt that way, but hearing it out loud was somehow so much worse. 

Worse still, his brother was right. He wouldn't be here. And he found himself wondering just what kind of man Sam would become without him. Taking one last look at the burning house he swiped a hand over his eyes to clear the tears that threatened to spill over and followed Sam back towards the cabin. 

Sam was already leaning against the Impala when he reached him and he looked up as Dean approached, giving a slightly tentative smile. He'd meant every word he'd said but he regretted how much they'd hurt his brother. Now he just wanted to forget all about the conversation – he was tired of this atmosphere that seemed to come between on an almost daily basis now. 

Dean recognised that Sam clearly wanted to move past their latest discussion and he returned the smile as best he could, trying to put aside thoughts of what would happen to Sam when he was gone. There was nothing he could do about that, all he could do was try his best while he was still alive. And for now that meant pretending their last conversation never happened. 

He unlocked the car and they both got in, Sam glancing at him to try and gauge his mood. 

"We should stop at the next big town we come to, replace your phone." he said and Dean shrugged.

"Sure."

"And your boots." 

Dean looked across and saw Sam was grinning, a genuine smile this time, and he found himself joining him.

"You can quit finding this so funny you know, at least I didn't lose my shoe because of my own stupidity." he said, without any heat.

"Hey, mine was because of that rabbit's foot."

"You keep telling yourself that, Sammy."

As always it was the affectionate use of the nickname Sam pretended to dislike, although not so much these days, that truly lightened the atmosphere and Sam felt the tension that had been sitting across the back of his neck relax.

As Dean started the engine and pulled round the cabin to get back on the track he frowned. 

"Can you hear that?" he said and Sam gave him a quizzical look.

"Hear what?" 

"That noise. I swear the engine doesn't sound quite right." 

Sam listened but honestly couldn't hear anything. 

"Sounds fine to me." he said and Dean rolled his eyes. 

"Says the expert mechanic. Think I'll have to check it out next time we stop. This damn track probably knocked something loose." he said and Sam just smirked.

As they headed through the trees and back towards civilisation, Sam found himself saying a quick prayer for Mr Okanaru and his son. And for any innocent victims that had been caught up in the quest for vengeance. Dean was right about that part. It was always the innocents that suffered. 

He glanced across at his brother, taking in the familiarity of the way Dean casually gripped the wheel, the look of mild concentration as he searched for the track he wanted on the stereo and the quick grin he flashed Sam when he realised his brother was watching him. 

As he turned his gaze back to the passing trees he found himself wondering if he really would become like Mr Okanaru, without that solid presence beside him. He swallowed. Whether Dean liked it or not, Sam was going to find a way out of this deal for him. 

He had to. 

And hopefully that way, he'd never find out the answer to his question. 


End file.
